On the morning of July 20, a stranded climber called Banff Dispatch for a rescue. The climber had spent the night on a small ledge immediately below the summit of Mt. Whyte. After numerous attempts to downclimb to the Whyte-Niblock Col, the cli...
On July 10, while climbing the Northeast Ridge of Mt. Bell near the Lake Louise area, a party of two contacted Parks Canada and requested a rescue. Although they’d started early in the morning, they were only halfway up the route by 5 p.m. ...
On September 18, Yoshio Hosobuchi (74), a retired neurosurgeon, was found dead after spending a night hanging upside down on his climbing ropes. He had been making a rappel in the Subway, a popular and demanding canyoneering route. Hosobuch...
On December 15 the weather in the northern Adirondack Mountains was bluebird clear but cold. I had spent the day with a fellow New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) forest ranger patrolling on foot to the 2,000-foot summ...
On February 7, at 1:50 p.m., Banff Dispatch received a call from an injured skier who had just tumbled down the Aemmer Couloir on Mt. Temple. The subject stated that he had “tomahawked” down the 600-meter couloir, after falling on his second tu...
During the early evening on March 19, a woman (22) was leading the sport route Tanduay Time (5.10d) at the Boneyard Wall and fell while trying to clip the anchors. She fell approximately 20 feet, hitting the prominent ledge about halfway down. ...
On November 7, Bob (62) and I (67) arrived in Joshua Tree in celebration of Bob’s retirement. We spent the morning top-roping Hands Off (5.8) and practicing self-rescue techniques. Bob said there was a 5.3 on Cyclops Rock, a good first lead for...
On March 19 a man (27) was standing on a belay ledge at the Sunnyside Wall when he stepped back too far and fell off the ledge. He impacted the ground about 15 feet below and sustained a back injury. Muir Valley Rescue responded and litter-carr...
In October I was leading the Left Ski Track (5.11a) on Intersection Rock and suffered a ground fall from about 20 feet up. I landed in a patch of dirt that is about two feet by three feet. All around the spot where I landed are sharp rocks that ...
It was with special interest that I obtained the 2012 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, because the “Know the Ropes” section focuses on rappelling. My brother, Louis Cicotello (70), did not survive a fall while on rappel at...
At 2:50 p.m. on July 7, climbing ranger Brad Shilling was flagged down by a park visitor who reported there had been a climbing accident and that the climber had a head injury. The visitor pointed to the descent route from the climb Intruding D...
On July 24, Karen Gose (27) died of injuries sustained while demonstrating climbing and rappelling techniques on the face of Suicide Rock. Gose, a counselor with a Girl Scout troop, fell 30 feet onto a rock ledge during a rappelling demonstrati...
On September 17, Derek Kelley (34) fell more than 600 feet to his death while climbing North Maroon Peak (14,014 feet). According to reports, Kelley was about 300 feet from the summit when he fell after a boulder came loose. Rescue personnel be...
On April 23, Al Shaver is leading and I (Steve Nechodom) am following on Lost Horizons (5.8). Both of us are in our 50s, with half a life of climbing experience apiece. We have been trad partners for six years. About 3 p.m., I am going to the r...
On May 18 a Dartmouth Outing Club excursion to Rumney included nine climbers. When they arrived, they split into teams and went to their selected climbs, having agreed to meet back at the van in early evening. Lynn (20s) had been climbing with...
Alexander Lee, left Boulder around 6 a.m., planning to climb the mostly fourth class Direct East Ridge (II 5.4) of Mt. Bancroft (13,250 feet) in the James Peak Wilderness Area. According to Hermans, “The day was overcast and we had a few big gu...
Early in the morning on Saturday, June 30, Michael Ybarra (45) set out by himself to traverse the Sawtooth Ridge, according to his sister and Alex Few, a friend. He was scheduled to return from his climb by Sunday evening at the latest. After h...
On June 13, a five-member Japanese expedition, “Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation–MWAF-2012 Denali,” was involved in an avalanche while descending the West Buttress of Denali. At an unknown time during the early morning, the expedition triggered ...
On June 9, Eric Johnson (23) of Reno fell approximately 40 feet off one of the area’s popular climbing routes, breaking both heels and a vertebra. He fell after his climbing partner failed to secure an adequate belay. (Source: Sierra Sun, June ...
On May 25, T.J. Brumme (25) was photographing friends climbing in the Cat Slab area of Clear Creek Canyon. He soloed up the far right section of Cat Slab and clipped into the second bolt on a route to take photos. Once finished, he unclipped an...